Now is not their time. But soon it will be.
They have been toiling all winter away from the glare at places such as Elk Lake, Saanich Commonwealth Place Pool, Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence and Westhills Stadium for when the spotlight will glare on them in a big way in August.
But triathlete Kirsten Sweetland of Victoria is breaking from Summer Olympics orthodoxy by utilizing Winter Games training methods in Whistler to prepare for Rio 2016.
“I find cross-country skiing very helpful,” said Sweetland, of taking advantage of Whistler while the snow lasts.
But downhill skiing is definitely out of bounds, quite literally. It offers little of aerobic value for a triathlete, and the other risks are too great.
“I would never forgive myself if I broke my leg before Rio,” she said.
But other than that, the Stelly’s Secondary graduate is looking for any edge.
Canada has been awarded three women’s Olympic triathlon berths for Rio this summer. All of Canada’s main stars — Sweetland, Paula Findlay of Edmonton, Victoria-based Ellen Pennock of Calgary, Amelie Kretz of Blainville, Que., Aussie-born Dominika Jamnicky of Guelph, Ont., and Sarah-Anne Brault of Quebec City — have suffered ups and downs that have curtailed their progress the past year.
The group has until May, when the Olympics spots will be filled, to sort it out among themselves on the lakes and roads of the world. Sweetland plans to race three times through the spring before the selection cut-off, beginning with a World Series event in New Plymouth, New Zealand.
“I was sick much of last year and was on heavy-duty antibiotics,” said Sweetland.
“I was off for five months and got back about a month ago. There has been a rapid improvement and I am in good health now. I feel like a new person.”
As starry as her career has been at times, the 2006 world junior champion has never been to the Olympics. Injuries or illness popped up at the most inopportune times to deny her Beijing 2008 and London 2012.
“In previous years, I’ve taken myself out by doing too much,” she said.
“This year, I don’t plan to smash myself into the ground.”
The dream is to take from those past experiences, qualify, and then pop a big race at Rio 2016. It’s not out of the equation. Sweetland would love nothing more in Rio than to replicate that magical opening day two years ago in Glasgow when she won silver and swimmer and fellow-Islander Ryan Cochrane gold for Canada’s first two medals of the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Sweetland and Cochrane grew up as backyard neighbours in Cordova Bay.
Of course, in Rio, it won’t be the pristine training snow of Whistler she has to worry about. But Sweetland said she isn’t concerned about the Rio water worries that continue to weigh on the minds of fellow Island athletes, such as rowers and sailors, as they prepare for the 2016 Summer Games.
“Triathlon is not in the same venues in Rio as rowing and sailing, where the water quality is a concern,” she explained.
“The swim for the Olympic triathlon will take place at Copacabana, and hundreds of thousands of people swim at that beach every year.”
Sweetland was top Canadian female last year at Copacabana in the official Rio Olympics test event.
“Nothing bad came of it,” she said.
“Sure, I was sick much of last year. But who knows where that came from?
“We swim in a lot of places where the water quality is suspect. In our sport, that is always a concern. That’s not out of the ordinary for us. I got sick after a race in Stockholm and that is considered a clean city. Flash flooding before a race will make any city harbour dirty. In Rio, it will help us being in the open ocean.”
But, Sweetland added, she saw the Rio Olympic rowing and sailing venues last year and expressed relief she won’t be dipping her head in those waters.
Over the next few months, Sweetland will content herself as a rare Summer Olympian training in Whistler.
“I am improving rapidly,” said the 27-year-old Islander.
“After years of training, my baseline fitness is OK.
“For sure, I will be ready for August.”
